Palacio Salvo is a building in Montevideo, Uruguay, located at the intersection of 18 de Julio Avenue and Plaza Independencia. It was designed by the architect Mario Palanti, an Italian immigrant living in Buenos Aires, who used a similar design for his Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Finished in 1928, Palacio Salvo stands 100m high with the antenna included.
The site was bought by the Salvo brothers for 650,000 Uruguayan pesos. It was built on the site where the Confiteria La Giralda was once located, a place renowned for being where Gerardo Matos Rodríguez wrote his tango La Cumparsita in 1917.
The original specifications, describing the details of the construction, describe a lighthouse at the top of the building, which was replaced by a set of antennas. The specifications stated “on the top part of the tower a lighthouse will be placed made by Salmoiraghi of Italy, with a parabolic mirror of 920mm, reaching approximately 100km, and a rotating 100 amp lamp.”
The building was originally intended to be a hotel, but this plan didn't work out, and it has since been occupied by a mixture of offices and private residences. The building has a height of 95m. While the set of antennas was at its top, its total height was 100m. The antennas were permanently removed in November 2012.